Are there segments of our population not being fairly represented in the Peel District School Board System?
Michael Charbon speaks with Suzanne Nurse, Peel District School Board Trustee for Brampton Wards 2/6 and Phiona Lloyd-Henry, a Teacher with the Peel School Board about the “We Rise Together” report.
The report is in response to two previous reports, the FACES (Facilitating Access, Change and Equity in Systems) report conducted by the United Way, and a report conducted by the ONABSE (Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators). The reports suggest that black students are not achieving an equitable outcome of success to that of their peers after leaving the school system.
The We Rise Together report drew input from 87 black male students, in grades 11 and 12 from across the Peel District School Board system, and from students of varied socio-economic backgrounds.  The report indicates that many of the black males surveyed “felt excluded and cited school as a hostile environment.”
Stating that “the black community does not have faith in the Public Education system”, the Action Plan calls for mandatory bias and anti-racism training for teachers and other staff, changes throughout the curriculum to integrate the history and experiences of black Canadians, and mentoring programs to boost student involvement and leadership to support black male students to achieve an equitable outcome.
